Automatic garage door



March 17, 1931'.

F. L. MORSE AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR Filed D60. 16. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

rz/iz/illfirse ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1931. F. 1.. MORSE AUTOMATIC GARAGE noon Filed Dec. 16 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIvLVENTOR. ran/(L /%rs6 A TTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 17, 1931 FRANK L. MORSE, OJ! ITHACA, NEW YORK AUTOMATIC GARAGE noon Application filed. December 16, 1929. Serial No. 414,531.

This invention relates in general to auto matic door operators, such as are used on garages, cars, factories, and other structures, and is particularly applicable to doors of the folding or leaf type. The invention has for its objects the provision of a simple and eflective apparatus which can be readily adapted to various installations, and to doors of different sizes. Another object is to provide a type of drive and linkage connection which will positively control the opening and closing of folding doors with outjamming at any point and without depenc ing on the momentum of the doors to carry the motion thru. Various otherobjects will become apparent as the description proceeds. a j j a 7 Referring now to the drawings forming part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pair of folding doors and the operating mechanism, it be ing understood that where there are two pairs of such doors the adjacent pair is similarly equipped.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding elevation,the doors being shownclosedin bothFig. 1

and Fig. 2. l

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the doors partly open, (in full 30. lines), and showing their position when fully open in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a detail view, partly in section, showing the manner of connecting the operating link to the door. Fig. 5 is another detail View, showing the supporting arm and roller attached to the door.

Referring first to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the walls of the garage or other structure having the doors to be operated are indicated by the reference numeral 1, and a pair of folding doors attached thereto are indicated by the reference numerals 2 and 2, the door leaf 2 beinghinged to the wall structure at 3, and the second leaf 2 being. hinged to the first leaf 2 at the points 4, in the customary manner of folding doors. There are usually two pairs of such doors in a doorway, but as the other pair are similar, they are only indicated in a fragmentary manner, as at 2". The weight of such doors is usually supported in part from a rail 5 on which runs a trolley 6, the trolley wheel 6 being pivotally attached at 7 to a bracket arm 8 which is in turn pivotally attached at 9 to the outer leaf of the door 2, as shown more in detail in Fig. 5. The structure just described is merel that usually found in a typical folding oor.

To operate the doors a link or arm 10 is connected to the second leaf 2', as shown in the general views of Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 8, and also shown more in detail in Fig. 4. This link 10 is pivotally attached tothe door leaf 2 by the bracket 11, and the other end of the link 10 is attached to a driving chain 12 and isguided by rollers 13 and 13 which run in tracks or grooves 14; and 14 extending parallel to the driving strand of the chain 12. These tracks 14, 14, like the track 5, are preferably supported by attaching them to the ceiling of the building, or to the walls or other fixed parts of the structure.

The chain 12 runs around sprockets 15 and 16, the sprocket 15 being mounted on the motor base 17 and the sprocket 16 being mounted on a bracket 18 which may be attached to any convenient part of the structure 1. The ends of the chain 12 are usually connected by a coil spring 20 which maintains a proper tension, and also permits a certain variation in the location of the bracket 18. If the adjustment provided by the spring 20 is not enough, the length of the chain 12 can readily be changed by adding or subtracting a few links, so that the apparatus can be readily installed in garages or other structures of various dimensions.

The sprocket 15 is driven by the reversible electric motor 22 operating thru the worm 23 and worm wheel 24, which is keyed to the same shaft as the sprocket 15. The motor 22 also drives a similar mechanism for the other pair of doors, which as it does not differ in principle, is only indicated fragmentarily, by the reference numerals 12, 15, and 24. The motor 22 is mounted on the motor base 17 which is secured to any suitable fixed portion of the building, usually by rods or brackets, or it maybe built into the building at the time it is constructed. The electric circuits, switch mechanisms, etc., for operating. themotor 22 may be of any of the numerous types commonly used in door operators for starting, stoppmg and reversing the motor, and.

as they are well known, need not be-further described here, in as much as'the present invention is more particularly concerned with the operating mechanism between the motor and the doors.

When the doors are closed, as shown in Fig. 1, the arm or link 10 is approximately perpendicular to the door 2 and track 14,

so. that the door is locked or wedged in its closed position against any attempts to open it by pressure from the outside. Before the doors can be opened by pressure from the outside the hinge a must bend inward, and as shown in Fig. 1, any such inward force or pressure is transmitted thru the arm 10 directly. to the fixed track 14,-the arm 10 being so nearly perpendicular to the track 14 that little strain is put on the chain 12, and the doors are easily held firmly in the closed position. i

When the motor 22 is energized to open the doors, turning thesprocket 15 in the direction indicated by the arrow, the initial movement of the chain 12, to which the arm 10 is attached, gives a relatively slow or gradual starting movement to the door. leaf 2, owing to the fact thatthe arm 10 is substantially on or near a dead center posit on. On the other hand, though the initial motion is slow, it has a powerful leverage and imposes but little starting load on the motor 22,-which is very important in such installations, as only small motors are desirable in private or residence installations, yet the power must be sufficient to cope with frozen and sticky doors, snow, etc.

As the movement of the chain 12 continues, the movement of the doors increases more rapidly, and the arm lOswings across the top ofthe door 2, as shown in full lines in Fig. so that the continued movement.

tends to fold back the leaf 2 against the leaf'2, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3.. The motion usually travels a little over beyond that point, so that the. roller 13 runs 7 I part way around the back of the sprocket 16,

approaching a dead center position so that the doors come to a stop gradually when the motor 22 is cut off, and relieving the mechanism from shock. This also permits the doors to start gently on the return reverse movement.

When-the doors are to be closed the motor 22 is of course reversed, and the operation occurs in the reverse manner, with the link 10 first opening the doors into a V and then flattening them against the door frame. At the close the arm 10 is at or near the dead center position, as before, so that-slight variations in the time that the motor 22 shuts off do not'materially affect the operation of the mechanism,; and the door motion slows down gradually.

In the opening and closing of folding doors considerable difficulty has heretofore been experienceddue to the'fact that two types of motion are really involved, the first to'break the doors into a V so] that they can be movedflaterally, and] the second to fold them laterally. outof the'way, The

transition from one of these motions to the other has generally caused difiiculty. "In the present invention, the kinematic" properties of the mechanisms described are such that there is always a sufficient component of force in the direction of the motion desired,

and jamming and sticking are minimized.

While I have in the foregoing described a particular installation as a typical em bodiment of the. invention, it will be understood that it is merely by wayof illustration to show the principles thereof,and that the invention is not limited tothe particular details shown, but is subject to various modifications and adaptations in differ'entinstallations as will be apparentto those skilled inthe art, without'departing fromthe scope of the invention which isset forth in the following claims.

I claim: v

1. In a door operating mechanism the combination of a doorway structure, a first door leaf hinged to said structure, a second door leaf hinged to said first door leaf,- an arm pivotally attached to said second door leaf, a drivechain attached to said arm, said arm and chain extending over the top of said doors as the doors are folded, and motor means for operating said chain to open and close the door.

2. In a door operating combination of a pair of folding doors, an arm pivotally attached to the second leaf of said doors and arranged to extend substantially straight back from said doors when the doors are closed and to swing over the top of the doors when they are open, a

drive chain attached to said arm and extendmechanism, the

door leaf hinged to the first door leaf, an arm pivotally attached to said second door leaf, a drive chain attached to said arm, a roller on said arm, guide means for said roller extending in the direction of the drive chain, said arm, chain and guide means extending over the top of the doors as the doors are folded, and motor means for operating said chain to open and close the door.

4. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a doorway structure, a first door leaf hinged to said structure, a second door leaf hinged to the first door leaf, an arm pivotally attached to said second door leaf at a point nearer the hinged edge of said leaf than the free edge, said arm being arranged to swing over the top of the door leaves as they are folded open, and means for moving the swinging end of the arm along a rectilinear path at a slight angle to the plane of the doorway.

5. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a two leaf folding door section, a sprocket near the free end of the second leaf, a second sprocket near the fixed hinged end of the first leaf, an operating arm pivotally attached to the second leaf adjacent the hinged edges of said leaves, a drive chain attached to said arm and running over said sprockets, guide means for the chain end of said arm extending along the direction of the chain, and motor means for operating said chain to open and close the door.

6. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a doorway structure, a first door leaf hinged to said structure, a second door leaf hinged to the first door leaf, an arm pivotally attached to said second door leaf at a point nearer the hinged edge of said leaf than the free edge and arranged to extend backwards from the door when the door is closed, means for moving the other end of the arm laterally and towards the side of the doorway to open the door first with an oblique pull and then with a substantially direct pull, the arm being sufficiently short and the path of the moving means sufliciently close to the doorway so that the arm swings from a backward to a lateral position in the process of opening the door and passing over the tops of the door leaves folds them back against the side.

7. In a door operating mechanism, the combination of a doorway structure, a motor mounted substantially over the middle of said structure, a worm driven by said motor, a pair of worm wheels driven by said worm, a pair of folding doors each having two leaf sections, a pair of chain drives driven by said worm wheels respectively and extending laterally over the tops of the doors when open, a pair of operating arms pivotally attached to the second door leaves 

